EFF: Repeal EU's Data Retention Directive

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has tapped into the unpopularity of an EU directive that caused major concerns several years ago which would see ISPs in the EU logging user activity.

The EFF is calling on the European Union's data protection watchdogs to pressure the governing bodies of the EU to repeal the law. The San Francisco-based digital rights activist group says the directive is disproportionate and very unpopular with citizens in any state that attempts to make it law.

Under the Directive, which appeared when the United Kingdom held the EU presidency, ISPs would be required to keep records of when its services were used and by whom. This information is then available for police and other state authorities to analyze in cases of terrorism or serious crime.

The length of time the data is retained for is between six months and two years depending on the preference of the state. "The Data Retention Directive is highly controversial, if not wildly unpopular throughout the European Union,"said the EFF's Eva Galperin.

"The directive was strongly opposed by European privacy activists ... as each country in the EU has implemented the Data Retention Directive in their own law, they have faced challenges in state courts."

Courts in Germany and Romania have already rejected laws based on the directive. In the German case, it was found to be unconstitutional while in Romania, it was deemed to be in breach of rights provided by the European Convention on Human Rights.